Centering device for car-couplings.



. E. H. SCHMIDT. OENTERING DEVICE .FOR GAR GOUPLINGS.

APPLICATION FILED s132111, 1909. 1,022,334, Patented Apr. 2, ,1912.

INVENTOR E. H. SCHMIDT.

VGENTERING DEVICE POR GAR COUPLINGS.

- APPLIUATION FILED SEPT. 11, 1909.

1,022,334. Patented Apnz, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SEEET 2.

wrrNEssEs INVENTon mmh.

,UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE;

H. SCHMIDT, 0F CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE NATIONAL MALLEABLE ICASTINGS COMPANY, 0F CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION- OF OHIO.v

Specification of Letters Patent.

lCENTEB'ING DEVICE FOR CAR-COUPLINGS.

,Patented Apec, 1912.

To all rwlwm may concern it known'that I, ERNEST H. SCHMIDT,

'of'f C'leveland, Cuyahoga county Ohio, have invented a newV and usefulCentering Device fiforlCar-"Couplers, of, which the following is full,"c1ear, and exact description, reference l-beiiig' had totheaccompanying drawings, forming part of this-specification, in which-Figure 1 is a top plan -view partially 'broken away, showingV the deviceinposi tion between the sills of a car and in connection with a couplerand a shank extension; Fig. 2 is a view' partly in vertical sectionand', partly in side elevation; Fig'. 3 is a section on the line III-IIIof Fig. 1. My invention has relation to centering devices for carlcouplers, and-is .designed to'- provide a simple and efficient devicefor maintaining the -alin'ement between the coupler,.its shank extensionand the draft rigging yoke,` assoon as forces tending to change .thisalinement cease to act.

i The nature of my invention will bel best understood by reference tothe accompany- '-ing'drawings, in which I haveshownthe A,'pr-ferredembodiment thereof and which willgnowbe described, it'being premised,however, that various changes may be made in l the details ofconstruction and arrangement `of the parts by those skilled in the art,without departing ,from the spirit and scope of my-invention, as definedin the ap* pended clalms.

In these drawin s, the numeral 2 designates-'a coupler of t e automatictype, having a shank 3, which is pivotallyiattached by means of a pin.4,to a coupler shank extension 5;v This shank extension is, in turn,

pivoted .at 6 to the yoke-7 of the draft gear. Thepln 4 isl preventedfrom dropping out 4by a head 'at its upper end, which is re- Acessedslightly into the upper member of the coupler shank extension, as shownat 8, in F ig. 2, and also by a projectin lug. 9, on the lower part ofthe coupler hea which 'extends partially underneath the lower end ofthepin. It is also prevented from being accidentally withdrawn yupwardlyfrom its position by means 'of a transverse pin or blt'lO, which isplaced yin position, as show n, after the pin 4 has been inserted'.Thispm i 10fis seated in rearwardlyprojecting lugs or arms 1 1'of thecoupler. head. The lug or pro]ect-1on 9, together with the arms or -lugs11, forms a cage for the lfront'ends of the upper and lower members ofthe coupler shank extension, thus preventing them from spreading apartand allowing the coupler head to droop. The pin connections 4 and-permit-a certain amount of rot-ation of tlie coupler and the couplershank extension, respectively, in a horizontal plane. The rotarymovement about the pin 4 permits of a greater angling of the couplersthan would 4be allowed by the M. C. B. contour, if the couplers wererigid, while'the pivotal movement about the pin 6 permits the couplersto pass around curves without binding or Vdistorting the yoke.

The centering device, proper, which cons titutes the main feat-ure of myinvention, is pivoted by means of a Vertical pin 12 between the upperand lower members of the coupler shank extension. This device consistsof the two centering arms 13 and 14, together'with an interposed spring15. These arms, together with'the spring, lie between the/upper andlower members of the cou- -pler shank extension, and are so arranged aswill be hereinafter more fully described, as to perform a centeringfunction both for the coupler head relative to the shank extension, andfor the shank extension relative to the longitudinal center line of thecar. The two centering arms 13 and 14 are each of C-shape, and arepivoted at their rear ends on the pin 12. The outer curved sides ofvthese arms are in sliding contact with the inner faces of the draftsills 1G, as shown in Fig. 1, and are held in such con'- tact by properinitial compression of the centering spring 15. This spring is held inposition between and a ainst the-centering arms by means of the osses 17on said arms. The forward end portions of the two arms overlap eachother and both arms terminate in similarly shaped shoes 18 and 19,

the shoe 18 being preferably integral with the arm 14, and the 'shoe 19being preferably integral with the arm 13. The forwardly projecting-portions `of these shoes embrace .and engage the tapered rear endportion of the coupler shank, while the rearwardly projecting portionsof the s'hoes embrace and engage a pin or rivet 20, which passes throughthe coupler shank extension.

The operation is as follows: If the coupler head 2 is forced, say, inthe 'direction of the arrow in F ig. 1, its shank will move in theopposite direction and will press against the shoe 19, thereby moving'the centering arm 13 in a similar direction about the pin or pivot 12.This movement compresses the cen tering spring 15, the arm 14 in themeantime remaining substantially immovable against the sill with whichit is in contact. lVhen the force has been removed from the couplerhead, the spring 15 will return to its normal compression, therebyforcing the arm 13 back in contact with its sill and by means of thecontact between the shoe 19 and the coupler" shank, will force thecoupler back into alinement with the coupler shank extension. Themovement of the coupler head in the opposite direction is resisted in asimilar manner by the centering arm 13 and spring-15. If the couplershank extension is forced to move, say, in the direction of the arrow,the bearing of the pin or rivet 2O against the rearwardly projectingportion of the shoe 18 moves the centering Aarm 14 in the same directionand compresses the spring l5. As soon as the force which has been soacting is remo". ed, the spring returns the centering arm let to itsnormal position, and the con tact of this arm with the pin or rivet 20returns the shank extension to the longitudi* nal center line of thecar. The arm 13 and spring 15 act in a similar manner when the couplershank extension is forced to move in the opposite direction. rlhemovements of the coupler and of the shank extension can take placeeither separately or vsimultaneously, the spring 15 performing acentering function for both of these members; and notwithstanding the.double jointed connection of the coupler and yoke, the alinementbetween the two is maintained as soon as the forces tending to changesuch alinement cease to act.

The device is` simple in its constructionv and requires but a few parts.The shape and location of the centering arms permits the use of astraight coupler shank extension, without offset on its under side, thusavoiding the necessity for dropping the carrying iron below its normalposition. The centering device is placed back between the sills out ofthe way, so that there are no projections beyond the ends of the sills,and the device, from the end of the car, appears as compact as if asolid shank extension without a centering device were used. The directsliding contact of the centering arms with' the sills permits of allnecessary longitudinal movements of the draft rigging in buiiing anddraft action.

It will be obvious that many changes .may

be made in the details of theconstruction 1 and arrangement of theparts. Thus, the form of the centering arms, their manner of engagingwith the' coupler shank and with the shank extension may be changed, andother changes may be made. f

1. A coupler having a shank, a. shank ex@ tension to which the coupleris pivoted. a draft rigging to which the shank extension is pivoted, anda yielding centering device pivotally connected with the shank extensionin the rear of the pivotal point of the coupler and in front of thepivotal point of the shank extension, said centering device having asliding contact with portions of the i car and engaging the couplershank, to center both the coupler and the shank extension.

2. A coupler, a. pivoted shank extension-to which the coupler ispivotally connected, a pair of centering arms pivotally attached to theshank extension and having a sliding contact at-their sides with thecar. sills, said arms having shoe portions at their free ends whichengage the coupler shank in rear of its pivot and also the coupler shankextension forward of its pivot, together with a centering springarranged to act upon said arms.

3. A coupler, a pivoted shank extension to which the coupler is pivoted,the coupler having a shank extending back of its pivotal connection withthe shank extension, and yielding centering arms pivoted to the shankextension in the rear of the coupler pivot and having a sliding contactwith the carv sills, said arms engaging the rear end por. tion of thecoupler shan v et. A pivoted coupler shank extension formed of upper andlower members, a coupler pivoted between said members and having a shankextending rearward of the pivot, centering arms pivoted between saidupper and lower members and having asliding contact with the car sills,said arms having their free end portions overlapping each other andprovided with shoe portlons, said shoe portions en'gaging. with oppositesides of the extension of the couplerand also engaging with oppositesides of a bearing on the shank extension, and a centering springbetween said arms and acting thereon.

5. .Tn car coupler mechanism, a. pivoted coupler shank extension, 'acoupler, and a pivot pin connecting the coup-ler and the shankextension, the coupler having a rear.- ward projection beneath the lowerend of said pin and also having a free removable guard member extendingtransversely over the upper end of the pivot pin.

6. A coupler, a'shank extension tewhich the coupler is pivoted and whichis itself pivoted to the draft rigging, and a centering device engagingthe shank of the coupler and also the shank extension, @n ac'ng tc )Inteimony Whereoii, hm@ hereunto set tend t'o mamtam the almement ai: mpar@ l man sald devlce bemg @Noted to tha fammi @new i FINEST Hz@GEM-DTC sion at a point between the pvom poin'; of 5 the coupler andthe pvot-al point the shank extension and being loated entirely behindthe front of the and sills of ih@ am'.

Witnesses:

CHESTER BROOKS, HAMM? E GRR.,

